Turbine clocks

ABSTRACT

A pendulum clock powered by a slow turning water turbine is disclosed, the clock comprising of a source of liquid (or any other agent, such as sand, air, or a subminiature electric motor that can turn the turbine) for supplying motive power, a pivotally mounted pendulum that oscillates at its own natural frequency. The oscillation being sustained by the cooperation of the said turbine. The pendulum thus affected causes a multifunction pawl to advance a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;second&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;minute&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; and an &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;hour&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; spur gears synchronously and directly. The damping of the oscillations so as to prevent the pendulum from swinging too far is inherent in the system. The use of specially shaped Cams, Levers and Gear trains usually found in all clocks is thus eliminated.

United States Patent 1191 Afshar TURBINE CLOCKS [76] Inventor: GossemHekmat Afshar, One

Wellyn Rd., Bronxville, NY. 10708 [22] Filed: May 22, 1973 [21] Appl.N0.: 363,174

[52] U.S. Cl. 58/14, 58/2 [51] Int. Cl. G04b- 45/00, G04b 21/08 [58]Field of Search 58/2, 33, 129, 130, 144, 58/ 14 [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 441,661 12/1890 Hawley 512/144 x 3,520,125 7/1970Kuhn 58/2 3,620,415 11/1971 Ruth 58/2 x FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS41,974 8/1914 Sweden 58/2 1451 Mar. 18, 1975 Primary Examiner-EdithSimmons Jackmon [57] ABSTRACT A pendulum clock powered by a slow turningwater turbine is disclosed, the clock comprising of a source of liquid(or any other agent, such as sand, air, or a subminiature electric motorthat can turn the turbine) for supplying motive power, a pivotallymounted pendulum that oscillates at its own natural frequency. Theoscillation being sustained by the cooperation of the said turbine. Thependulum thus affected causes a multifunction pawl to advance a second aminute" and an hour spur gears synchronously and directly. The dampingof the oscillations so as to prevent the pendulum from swinging too faris inherent in the system. The use of specially shaped Cams, Levers andGear trains usually found in all clocks is thus eliminated.

6 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTED 1 8 i975 sum 1 BF 2 a b c d 0,b .0FIG. 6a FIG. 6b.

FAT TED NARI 81975 sum 2 Qf 2 1 TURBINE CLOCKS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe purpose of the invention is to produce a clock described in theabstract, which is very simple in design and construction and can run onalmost any agent which is capable to turn the turbine. Wide and suddenvariations in the rotational speed of the turbine wheel shall have noeffect whatsoever on the natural frequency ofthe oscillating body, sothat a time piece with sufficient accuracy is attained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described indetail, with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic rear view of the turbine wheel, with the cover 9aremoved to show the spiral hairspring.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the turbine wheel, with the cups removed forclarity, the method of coupling a subminiature electric motorintoturbine is shown, if and when used.

FIG. 3 is the front view of the second" spur gear showing the deepertooth root A.

FIG. 4 is the front view of the minute spur gear showing the deeperteeth roots B, C, D and E.

FIG. 5 is the front view of the frame plate.

FIG. 6 is the front and side views of the multifunction pawl.

FIG. 7 is the side view of one of the three similar detents.

FIG. 8 is the side view of the clock (only four cups on the turbinewheel are shown to avoid crowding).

FIG. 9 is the front view of the clock showing basic operations.

FIG. 10 is the front view of the complete clock.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The pendulum 3, comprising thebob l and the rod 2, is mounted free to swing by means of the pivot 4.Above the said pivot: the pendulum rod 2 is rigidly attached to theU-shaped fork 5 with its fingers 5a and 51), FIGS. 9 and 10. The saidfingers cooperate with the link 7, which is rigidly attached to theshaft 6. On the said shaft is pivoted the disc 8, which is free torotate, the said disc has several cups l0 rigidly attached to its rearsurface, spaced equally around acircle whose diameter is somewhatsmaller than the diameter of the disc 8, FIG. 1. The purpose of placingthese cups at a smaller circle is to free the rim of the disc 8 forcoupling to it a subminiature electric motor M of any kind, which drawsno more than 50 to I00 microamps, if and when it is so desired, FIG. 2(cups 10 on disc 8 not shown for clarity). Rigidly attached to the disc8 is the drum 9, which contains the spiral hairspring 9b (the kind usedwith the balance wheel of the ordinary table clocks). The inside end of9b is rigidly attached to the shaft 6, and the outside end pressesagainst the circular inside wall of the drum 9, and is free to slipunder tension. The member 9a is the cover of the said drum.

An outlet 11 for liquid is located directly above the center ofa cup 10,the droplets ofliquid flow down into the cups. The amount of torque torotate the turbine wheel 8 is so small that the mere weight ofa coupleof drops of water in each cup 10 will create the necessary torque toturn the said wheel in the direction shown. This in itself saves liquidand results in a smaller reservoir. When the said drum starts to turn,the end 9c of the hairspring also turns together with the said drumdueto purely frictional catch between the inside wall and the end 90.This action tends to wind the said hairspring, until the amount of thestored energy in it exceeds the frictional force that holds the end 9c,when will slip to a new random point balancing the stored energy. As theturbine wheel speeds up, then the end 9c will simply keep slippingcontinuously, but certain amount of energy stored in the said hairspringwill always be present until used. It is clear that wide variations inthe speed of the turbine can have very little or no affect on theaverage amount of the energy stored in the said hairspring. This storedenergy creates a torque on shaft 6, the link 7 rigidly attached to thesaid shaft transmits this energy into the oscillating body. The link 7is confined between the two fingers 5a and 5b of the fork 5, and whenpermitted, it can rotate in a circle whose diameter issomewhat largerthan the distance between the two fingers 5a and 512, FIG. 9.

When link 7 cooperates with 5a it causes the pendulum to swing to theright. Contrary to other pendulums. this pendulum is self starting. Whenthe pendulum swings to its maximum point to the right the link 7 escapesits contact with the finger 5a, and slams itself into the finger 5b.First, this action imparts damping to the said pendulum and then impartsenough pulse to swing the said pendulum in the opposite direction, thussustaining the natural oscillations of the said pendulum. The link 7repeats the same action with the finger 5b to complete the cycle. Thedamping of the pendulum prevents unnecessary high amplitudes.

Rigidly attached to the pendulum rod 2 is the bracket 12, with the shaftrigidly attached to it. The multifinger advancing pawl 13 is pivoted onthe shaft 12a and is free to turn. I

. The time keeping members comprise of three coaxially mounted spurgears. All the teeth in these three gears are evenly spaced around theirpitch circles. The diameters of all three gears are equal, and the teethare preferably saw-tooth in shape.

The gear 14, FIG. 3, is the second gear mounted rigidly on the arbor 22,which is free to turn in a single bearing 22b in frame plate 16. Thenumber of teeth on the gear 14 depends on the natural frequency oftheoscillating body, in this case the said pendulum, and is chosen so thatthe said gear will make exactly one turn per 60 seconds or 1 minute. Inmy working model I choose a pendulum with a natural frequency of 60cycles per minute, which gave me a gear of 60 teeth. On the said gear,one tooth root depth marked A is three times as deep as the remaining 59teeth root depths (in FIG. 3, teeth are shown in free hand and the countis not correct). The frame plate 16 has a V-shape cut on its upper edgewith a depth S equal to the tooth root depth A on gear 14. The inclinedsurface S cooperates with pawl 13. The seat 21 carries all three detentsl5, l8 and 20 which index the gears 14, 17 and 19 repectively to line upthe teeth of said gears precisely at 12 o'clock point each time. Alldetents have a round catch f, which is designed to permit the saidsaw-tooth gears to be indexed CW or CCW when setting them manually, FIG.7.

The minute gear 17, FIG. 4, has also 60 teeth and a cannon shaftcoaxially mounted on the arbor 22 and is free to rotate. The said gearhas four teeth root depths B, C, D and E located 90 apart and are twiceas deep as the remaining 56 teeth root depths (teeth count in FIG. 4 isfree hand and not correct). The hour gear 19 (side view shown in FIG. 8only) has 48 teeth, with no special tooth root depths. It has a cannonshaft coaxially mounted on the cannon shaft of gear 17 and is free torotate.

The multifunction advancing pawl 13, FIG. 6, has four blades a, b, c,and d. a is the sensing and advancing blade for the second" gear 14, bis the master sensing and control blade which rides and slides upon theupper edge of the frame plate 16, FIG. 9. c is the sensing and advancingblade for the minute gear 17, and dis the advancing blade for the hourgear 19.

OPERATION OF THE GEARS There are two ways to advance the gears 17 and 19synchronously with the second" gear 14.

I. By step construction of the diameters of gears 17 and 19 with respectto gear 14 and each other (not shown). This is the expensive way to dothe job.

2. By bending the blades and d up as shown in FIG. 6. This is easy,needs no special adjustment screws and is by far less expensive method.This is the method shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

Assume the pendulum is swinging from left to right. The master sensingand control blade [2 on pawl 13 is held down by gravity (or a spring)and is sliding on the upper edge of the frame plate 16. When the tip ofthe blade b arrives at the V-cut it simply drops into the V-cut causingall remaining three blades to drop down. lftooth root depth A on gear 14is not at 12 oclock position, blade a will drop until its tip hits theroot of a tooth on gear 14, which will determine how far down the pawlcan drop. At this moment the blade 0 will be passing about I millimeterabove the teeth of the gear 17 and can not advance said gear. The bladed will also pass a tooth high above the teeth of gear 19, also notableto advance gear 19. Then the only gear to be advanced one tooth atthis time will be gear 14. The inclined surface S in the frame plate 16is machined at a correct angle to lift up the master control blade b todisengage the blade a from the tooth of the gear 14 immediately afterone tooth is advanced. This insures that only one tooth will be advancedin each active stroke. When the pendulum swings from right to left noaction takes place. it is the idle half cycle. Assume again that thependulum swings from left to right, and this time the tooth root depth Aon gear 14 is adjacent to the left ofthe tooth which is exactly at 12oclock position. The blades u and I) both will drop one tooth deeperinto the said A and said V cut, which will drop blade 0 further downjust enough to engage the tooth on gear 17. This time the root of thetooth on gear 17 will determine how far down the pawl can drop. At thismoment the blade 1! is passing just about I millimeter above the toothof the "hour" gear 19 and can not advance the said gear. Therefore, onlythe second gear 14 and the minute" gear 17 will both be advancedsimultaneously one tooth each by the pawl 13.

When either one of the tooth root depths B, C, D or E on gear 17 line upwith A adjacent to the left of the teeth positioned at 12 o'clock, then.the master control blade I) will drop to the root of V-cut S and so willblades a, c and d, as a result of which all blades will engage a toothon each gear and advance one tooth each simultaneously. The action ofthe inclined surface S is common to all three gears. To sum up theresult; once every 60 seconds one tooth equal to 1 minute is advanced ongear 17, and once every 15 minutes one tooth is advanced on gear 19.

The second" hand 25 FIG. 8 and 10, is lined up with A on gear 14 andfastened rigidly into shaft 22. The minute" hand 24 is lined up witheither one of the four tooth root depths B, C, D, or E on gear 17 andfastened rigidily into the cannon shaft of the said gear. The positionsof said tooth root depths keep the hand 23 (which the hour hand and isfastened rigidly into the cannon shaft of the gear 19) to registercommonly accepted positions of one-fourth, one-half, three-fourths andfull hour.

The clock is synchronized manually at the start, after which the pawl 13will maintain this synchronization for ever. It is also very simple toset this clock. Assume that the clock shows 5 minutes after 9 and wewant to set it to l0 minutes past 3 oclock. In ordinary clocks thisrequires that the minute hand be turned 360 six times, and 5 minutesmore to set it at l0 minutes past 3. In my clock it is only necessary toturn the hour hand independently half way or 180 and set it on the 3oclock position just once, and turn the minute hand only 5 minutes moreto show 10 after 3. It saves time.

In FIG. 10, the hour hand is set at 2% hour, the minute hand is set at59 minutes and the second hand should be at 59 second position too, butI have intentionally put it at 55 second position so that to show theline up of the tooth root depths A and B clearly, just before the full 3oclock will be registered. The numerals of the clock are shown ascircles 26, and the l2 oclock numeral is not shown for sake of clarity.

In FIG. 10, the micro switch M.S. means actuated by the hour gear detentevery 15 minutes, serves to initiate operation of a tape recorder orother announcing devices to announce the time. A control signal locatedupon the track of the tape serves to terminate operation of the tapemovement.

What is claimed is:

l. The turbine powered pendulum clock comprising, a turbine wheel, asource of liquid turning said turbine wheel, a hairspring means, a shaftfixedly attached to one end of said hairspring, a drum means rigidlyattached to said wheel-and housing said hairspring; the other end ofsaid hairspring being in frictional contact with the inside of said drumbut free to slip therein; a rod means having two ends and a memberhaving at least two parallel members thereon; said parallel membersengaging said shaft means to be driven thereby; clock hands, gear meansfor moving the said clock hands; a pawl means pivotally attached at asuitable point on the said rod means for transmitting motion from saidrod means to the gear means for moving said hands, whereby said shaft isdriven in circular motion by said liquid and said circular motion ofsaid shaft means is transformed into oscillatory motion of said rodmeans via engagement ofsaid shaft means with said two parallel members.

2. The clock ofelaim I further comprising ofa frame plate, wherein saidpawl means is a multifunction knife pawl having four blades rigidlyconnected thereto, said hands comprising a second' hand, a minute" handand an hour hand, said gear means comprising at least three ratchetgears, one for each of said second" hand, said minute" hand, said hour"hand whereby each of said ratchet gears is driven by a different one ofsaid blades and at least one blade is in continuous frictional contactwith and sliding upon the upper edge of said frame plate.

3. The clock of claim 2 wherein all of said gears are coaxially mounted.

4. The clock of claim 2 wherein all three of said gears are free torotate independently of one another, the two of said gears each has allexcept at least one tooth root depth being equal, the other of saidtooth root depth being deeper than all the rest, for synchronizing allthree gears.

5. The clock of claim 1 further comprising a single frame plate whereinsaid shaft is rotatable in a single bearing in said plate.

6. The clock of claim 1 further comprising a micro switch for actuatinga time announcing system, said switch being closed by each movement ofsaid gear

1. The turbine powered pendulum clock comprising, a turbine wheel, asource of liquid turning said turbine wheel, a hairspring means, a shaftfixedly attached to one end of said hairspring, a drum means rigidlyattached to said wheel and housing said hairspring; the other end ofsaid hairspring being in frictional contact with the inside of said drumbut free to slip therein; a rod means having two ends and a memberhaving at least two parallel members thereon; said parallel membersengaging said shaft means to be driven thereby; clock hands, gear meansfor moving the said clock hands; a pawl means pivotally attached at asuitable point on the said rod means for transmitting motion from saidrod means to the gear means for moving said hands, whereby said shaft isdriven in circular motion by said liquid and said circular motion ofsaid shaft means is transformed into oscillatory motion of said rodmeans via engagement of said shaft means with said two parallel members.2. The clock of claim 1 further comprising of a frame plate, whereinsaid pawl means is a multifunction knife pawl having four blades rigidlyconnected thereto, said hands comprising a ''''second'''' hand, a''''minute'''' hand and an ''''hour'''' hand, said gear means comprisingat least three ratchet gears, one for each of said ''''second'''' hand,said ''''minute'''' hand, said ''''hour'''' hand whereby each of saidratchet gears is driven by a different one of said blades and at leastone blade is in continuous frictional contact with and sliding upon theupper edge of said frame plate.
 3. The clock of claim 2 wherein all ofsaid gears are coaxially mounted.
 4. The clock of claim 2 wherein allthree of said gears are free to rotate independently of one another, thetwo of said gears each has all except at least one tooth root depthbeing equal, The other of said tooth root depth being deeper than allthe rest, for synchronizing all three gears.
 5. The clock of claim 1further comprising a single frame plate wherein said shaft is rotatablein a single bearing in said plate.
 6. The clock of claim 1 furthercomprising a micro switch for actuating a time announcing system, saidswitch being closed by each movement of said gear means.